Organizers Dennis Blanton, College of William and Mary Cary Mock, University of South Carolina Presenters Thursday, May 24 - Commonwealth Auditorium, University Center 7:30 pm - Keynote Address David W. Stahle Tree-Ring Laboratory, Department of Geosciences, University of Arkansas 16th Century Megadrought and Megadeath in North America Friday, May 25 - Tidewater B, University Center 8:15-8:30 - Opening Remarks (Blanton) I. General Overviews of Climate and History (Moderator: Blanton) 8:30-9:00 - Cary J. Mock Department of Geography, University of South Carolina American Climate History, Climatic Impacts, and Paleoclimatology 9:00-9:45 - Thomas Jefferson An Eighteenth-Century Perspective on America's Weather and Climate 9:45-10:10 - Michael L. Chenoweth Reconstruction of Past Climate from Instrumental and Documentary Records 10:10-10:35 - Karen Kupperman Department of History, New York University The Climate Context of European Colonization in North America 10:35-10:50 - Break II. Some Multidisciplinary Approaches on Climate and History (Moderator: Mock) 10:50-11:15 - Thomas M. Cronin U.S. Geological Survey, Reston, Virginia Climate Variability in the Mid-Atlantic Region: Historical Implications 11:15-11:40 - Gregory A. Zielinski Institute for Quaternary and Climate Studies, University of Maine, Orono Toward a 300- to 400-Year Record of New England Nor'easters and Their Societal Impact 11:40-12:05 - Karen Paar Institute for Southern Studies, University of South Carolina Climate in the Historical Record of Sixteenth-Century Spanish Florida: The Case of Santa Elena Re-examined 12:05-12:30 - Kimberly A. Ettinger Approaches to Extraction and Organization of Historical Climate Data 12:30-1:45 - Lunch III. Climate and History from the American Deep South (Moderator: Blanton) 1:45-2:10 - Harry Blount, Michele McWaters, and Jan Mojzisek Department of Geography, University of South Carolina A Perspective on Unexploited Documentary Climatic Sources for South Carolina 2:10-2:35 - James H. Tuten History Department, Juniata College Climate Change as a Factor in the Collapse of Lowcountry Rice Culture, 1893-1920 2:35-2:45 - Brief Break IV. Climate and History: Case Studies for Virginia (Moderators: Blanton and Mock) 2:45-3:10 - David W. Lewes Center for Archaeological Research, College of William & Mary Historical Patterns of Weather Observation in Virginia 3:10-3:35 - Dennis B. Blanton Center for Archaeological Research, College of William & Mary Storms, Fever, Floods, and Blizzards: Case Studies from Virginia’s Historical Climate Data 3:35-4:00 - Lara Hamilton Department of Anthropology, College of William & Mary Climate and the 1855 Yellow Fever Outbreak in Virginia 4:00-4:25 - Rebecca Knicely Freeze-Thaw Patterns Derived from Virginia Records 4:25 - Closing Remarks (Blanton and Mock)